Wandering with Reckless Abandon

So I have been doing some church shopping of late, and the last couple of weeks have found me at a local church that seems to have a good bit of potential…

Potential… that word has haunted me on and off for many years. A big part of who I am and how I am wired is making things better than they currently are. This morning, as I sat in the worship service, I could not help but think about how the service could be tweaked to make it better. Contrary to the beliefs of some, this is not done out of a critical spirit, this is done because it is who I am… and in the deep down, core of my being, I desire nothing more than to see the church excel in what it does, and to see the kingdom expand through the impact of the local church.

Last week I went away from the service feel that something was just not there… This week, I was feeling the same thing but unsure of what it was until right before the sermon when the pastor used a video clip. As I sat there watching the clip, the thought flashed through my mind “this just does not fit this service”.

Thinking back, it began to make sense… the feeling that I felt the week before, and today stemmed from the sense that the service just was. There wasn’t a sense that the service was crafted, there wasn’t a sense that it was a living, breathing organism… it just was.

Now I know that there are those out there that will interpret what I am saying and call me some kind of heathen, and tell me that I am watering down the gospel, or trying to put on a show, or some crap like that, but fortunately my blog really isnt popular, and I doubt that they will be reading this… but I believe that there is a huge importance in the way that a worship service is crafted… and how it is viewed by those that are leading.

From my experience, there seems to be two ways to look at a worship service. The first view is that it is a static presentation, an hour to two hours in which everything is programed to the minute, and things happen on schedule. Not having a theater background, this is how I would envision a broadway show being done. There are rehersals, and things are repeated enough that there is minimal chance of a mistake. While this can provide a certain degree of excellence, I fully believe that this view of a service can suck the life out of a body in a very subtle, but dangerous way. The second view is that a worship service is a living, breathing organism. It is a dynamic period of time that is handled loosely and allowed to be fluid. While there is rehersal and preparation, it is done in a way to build familiarity but at the same time there is an openness to what may happen.

So, the last paragraph sounded kind of nebulous… basically what I am getting at is the need for an openness to the move of the spirit, rather than a need to get everything done.

I am convinced that the ability to do this rests firmly on the shoulders of the worship leader.

Worship Leaders are a rare breed. There are plenty of excellent musicians that can direct worship, but to really lead a worship service, to really shepherd a body of believers through a worship service takes a special gifting. I have met a few people with this gift along the way… and have been blessed to be in a service where they have been leading…

As I look back at the church that I visited today, I see so much potential… I see a very talented band, and a senior pastor who is a good communicator. I see a desire to use creativity in the service, and a desire to use different mediums to convey the message.

I also see the need for a worship leader. While there are a couple of people up front leading songs, there is no one that is shepherding the service… a need for someone to come alongside and help craft the service working through the ebb and the flow of the service, develop a unifying theme for the service and put together elements that fit together…

I used to think that there was something wrong with me for always looking at how to improve church. I used to think that I had a critical sprirt, or just couldn’t see the positive in anything. What I am realizing is that this is not the case… this is how I am wired… this is what I am wired for… I see the good in churches, I also see ways to make them better, and stronger… A while ago someone recomended that I go into consulting… While that may be a possibility in the future, for now I love the church far too much to not be involved in it on a local level…

***edit*** After soaking on this for a couple hours, I feel like I need to clarify one thing. I do not look for perfection in the church… I always expect for there to be a need for further improvement, and this is not a place where I need to just suck it up and be happy where I am at… I am. Thus far, I have enjoyed my experience at this church, at the same time I am trying to process how I process stuff…